NEW YORK -The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack, which occurred on 7 February outside the Supreme Court in Kabul and resulted in at least 21 people killed and more than 40 wounded.

The members of the Security Council expressed their deep sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and Government of Afghanistan and welcomed their unity in confronting this tragedy. They wished the injured a speedy recovery.

The members of the Security Council reiterated their serious concern at the threats posed by the Taliban, Al-Qaida, ISIL/Da’esh and illegal and armed groups to the local population, National Defence and Security Forces and the international presence in Afghanistan.

The members of the Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice, and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Afghan authorities in this regard.

The members of the Security Council reiterated that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of its motivation and wherever, whenever and by whomsoever it is committed, and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group.

The members of the Security Council reaffirmed the need for all States to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, in particular international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

The members of the Security Council reiterated that no violent or terrorist acts can reverse the Afghan-led process along the path towards peace, democracy and stability in Afghanistan, which is supported by the people and the Government of Afghanistan and by the international community.

Tonight a reception was organized at the Afghanistan Mission in New York. During the reception, Afghan Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nation honored and farewelled former UN Security Council members Spain and New Zealand. Spain served as penholder for Afghanistan during its two years of membership of the Security Council. New Zealand was the Chair of the 1988 and 1989 Sanctions Committees.
Ambassador Saikal welcomed new members of the Security Council Japan and Kazakhstan. Japan is the new penholder for Afghanistan and Kazakhstan is the new Chair of the Sanctions Committees.
During the reception, Ambassador Saikal also honored Germany for being a great penholder for UN General Assembly resolution on Afghanistan.
Picture: Ambassador Saikal with Ambassadors and Permanenet Representatives Oyarzun(Spain), Bohemen(New Zealand), Braun(Germany), Bessho(Japan) & Deputy Permanent Representative Sadykov(Kazakhstan).

Your Excellency Ambassador Mahmoud Saikal, Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations,
Excellencies,
Friends of Afghanistan,
Friends of the United Nations,

I am delighted to join you in celebrating the 70th anniversary of Afghanistan’s membership to the United Nations.

Afghanistan is one of the oldest members of the United Nations – the first country to gain membership after the original 51 members. It is very inspiring and having seen some clips of the moments and history of Afghanistan’s engagement with the United Nations is quite inspiring. For me personally, my personal and official relationship with Afghanistan starts from 1972. So such a long time. Until now is over almost over 40 years. And I was very proud to have participated in establishing diplomatic relationship between Korea and Afghanistan in 1973. Today as we are celebrating a strong and lasting partnership between United Nations and Afghanistan, I feel very proud that I have been some part of this history, quite long history.

Over seventy years, Afghanistan has made important contributions to the United Nations. It has been a strong advocate of collective action to address common challenges. I welcome Afghanistan’s commitment to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. Afghans continue to serve the Organization with dedication and distinction at all levels, from headquarters to the field.

In Afghanistan itself, our partnership is marked by close cooperation that dates back to 1949, when the first UN agencies began working in the country.

Since 2002, UNAMA – the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan – has been promoting coherent international support and working with the Afghan Government towards a secure, prosperous and democratic future for all Afghans.

This has been a challenging year for Afghanistan. The ongoing conflict and governance challenges remain a threat to the hopes and human rights of the country’s men, women and children. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations, I have spend a lot of time, engagement, and energy to work for peace and stability of Afghanistan. I have maintained a very close relationship with the former President Karzai and current President Ashraf Ghani and CE Abdullah Abdullah. When I was working as the chef de cabinet to the President of the General Assembly, I first met Mr. Abdullah Abdullah. At that time, he was then the foreign minister and at that time the President of the General Assembly participated in the Tokyo conference in 2001. And since then I have been involved in, myself, as a Secretary-General, I have visited many times, Kabul to participate in peace conference and bilateral visits with Afghanistan’s leaders. Most recently I had a very good meeting with President Ashraf Ghani at Brussels in the margins of the international conference in Brussels which was held in Belgium, and I was honoured at that time to have been decorated with the highest civilian honour of Afghanistan from President Ashraf Ghani. And I take it as my personal honour. At that time, I told President Ghani through my brief remarks that I receive the distinction on behalf of many UN staff who have been working for peace and stability of Afghanistan.

Ladies and Gentleman,

Once again I applaud the Afghan people for their resolve. I am encouraged by the continued commitment of the international community, as clearly demonstrated at the recent Warsaw Summit and Brussels Conference. Let us redouble our efforts to translate this support into real progress.

Once again, I congratulate Afghanistan on the 70th anniversary of its membership in the United Nations and I wish the people and Government of Afghanistan continued peace and stability and prosperity and democratic institutions.